Transit concrete mixer and agitator



y 1933- c. F. BALL TRANSIT CONCRETE MIXER AND AGITATOR Filed Sept. 12, 1929 Z'Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 'iwffial ATTORNE s May 16, 1933. c. F. BALL TRANSIT CONCRETE MIXER AND AGITATOR Filed Sept. 12.- 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. C FEaZZ A TTORNEYJ' Patented May 16, 1933 {UNITED S A E PATENT OFFICE,

' CHARLES F. BALL, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO CHAIN BELT COMPANY,

OF MILWAU'KEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN TRANSIT CONCRETE MIXER AND AGITATOR Application filed September 12, 1929. Serial m. 392,0 4.

This invention relates to concrete mixers and more particularly to a transit mixer and has for one of its objects to improve the constructions of transit mixers which have been heretofore proposed.

It has been the common practice in transit mixers to provide a mixing drum which is rotatably mounted upon a frame carried by the frame of the motor truck or other vehicle on which the mixer is mounted, and to also provide a discharge chute which may be caused to enter a central end opening in the drum to discharge the latter, and withdrawn from said opening during the mixing operation. In all of the previous constructions with which I am familiar, however, the mixing drum has been mounted upon rollers which were carried by the truck frame or by the sills of the sub-frame which is attached to the truck frame, whereas the discharge chute has been mounted upon separate supports which may be carried by the said sills. It has been found in actual practice where v such construction is employed, if the truck be stopped upon rough ground so that one rear wheel is higher than the other, thereby twisting the truck frame and the sub-frame, that the parts are thrown so far out of align- 6 ment, in many cases, that it has been impossible to get the discharge chute to enter the discharge opening.

It is therefore one of the primary objects of the present invention to so mount the rear end of the mixing drum and the discharge chute as to overcome this difficulty and maintain the parts in such alignment that the discharge chute may always be introduced into and withdrawn from the discharge opening 46 regardless of the position of the rear wheels of the truck.

With the above and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts more fully hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification in which like reference characters designate like parts in allthe views: p

' Figure l is a side elevational view partly broken'away of a transit mixer constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is an end elevational view'ofthe parts shown in-Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the truck tilted laterally into a position which it ground; and v j t Figure 4 is a detail elevational view of the end frame work which carries the discharge chute and the rollers for supporting the'rear end of the mixing drum.

In the said drawings numeral indicates generally a vehicle,here shown as a motor truck, having a frame 11 and rear wheels 12 and 13. Mounted upon the said truck frame 11 is a sub-frame 1 1 having the longitudinal sills 15 secured to the frame 11 in any suitable manner and provided with the front'upright '16 in which theforward end of the mixing drum 17 is suitably jour nalled. A motorseparate from the truck motor is mounted upon the sub-frame 14 in a housing 18 and through a shaft 19, sprocket wheel 20-and sprocket chain 21 rotates the mixing drum 17, all as described in my copending application Ser. No. 346,988, filed March 14,1929, entitled Concrete mixer and agitator. i I i At the rear end of the sills 15' there is provided a frame work 22 for supporting the rear end of the drum and the discharge chute, which frame work, as will be clear from the drawings, comprises a pair of spaced upright members 23 the lower ends of which are secured to the sil1s 15 and which are maintained in parallel spaced relation by suitable transverse bracing; members 24:, 25, and 26.

may assume upon rough A plurality of rollers 27, here shown as four in number, are journalled in bearing brackets or members 28 rigidly secured to the frame 22, as will be clear from Figs. 2, 3 and 4. These said rollers are arranged concentric with the discharge opening 29 provided in the end wall of the drum 17 and are adapted to be engaged by the flange 30 which surrounds the said opening 29. There is thus provided a rotatable bearing for the rear end of the mixing drum which will always maintain thedischarge opening in a fixed relation to the frame 22 regardless of the tilting or twisting of the truck frame 11 and the sub- Y frame 14. T'

Above the transverse support 25 there is mounted a transverse shaft 31 which extends from side to side of the frame 22, being journalled in the upright frame members 23 as will be readily understood. A discharge chute 32 is secured to the said'shaft 31 by suitable arms 33 and the said shaft is adapted to be rotated by a worm wheel 34 carried thereby which is engaged by a worm (not shown) carried by the short shaft 35 which is connected to the downwardly extended shaft 36 by a universal joint 37 The lower end of the shaft 36 is journalled in a bearing bracket 33 and is provided with a suitable 1 hand wheel 39 by means of which the shafts 36 and 35 may be rotated to control the movements of the discharge chute 32. A subchute 40 is rigidlv'mounted within the frame 22 to receive the mixture from the discharge chute 32 as clearly shown in the drawings.

It will thus be' seen that the present inven tionprovides a simple and effective means whereby the rear end of the mixing drum and the discharge chute are both mounted in the end frame 22 with the result that regardless of'the lateral tilting of the truck and its frame, the parts will alwavs maintain their relative positions so that the discharge chute may be introduced and withdrawn from the discharge opening,

This application is a continuation in part of my co-pending application Serial No. 346,988, filed March 14, 1929 entitled Concrete mixer and agitator.

While one form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction as well as the precise arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore, it is not wished to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the claim.

What is claimed is: V

In a transit mixer, a vehicle frame havingspacedlongitudinal members which are subjectto weaving or twisting movements when the vehicle is on uneven ground; a mixer sub-frame having spaced longitudinal sills secured to saidvehicle frame members and subject to their weaving or twisting movements; a mixing drum mounted upon said mixer sub-frame with its rotative axis parallel to said longitudinal sills, and provided with a discharge opening at one end; a transverse member bridging the space between said longitudinal sills and rigidly secured thereto, for rotatably mounting the discharge end of said drum; and a discharge chute carried by said transverse member, whereby the position of said chute relative to said discharge opening is maintained at all times irrespective of the weaving of said vehicle and mixer frames.

' In testimony whereof I aflix my signature;

CHARLES F. BALL. 

